A power struggle has broken out at the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA), with Mayor Brandon Johnson claiming that he removed Board Chairman Matthew Brewer from his position while Brewer refuses to step down, stating Johnson’s actions were unlawful.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports the conflict began with the CHA board’s recent 7-2 vote to name Keith Pettigrew as its new CEO. Pettigrew is the executive director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority, but his appointment was a rejection of Johnson’s preferred candidate, retired Alderman Walter Burnett.
On Wednesday, Johnson announced he was removing Brewer from his role as board chairman and replacing him with CHA Board Commissioner Jawanza Malone, who voted against Pettigrew’s appointment. The mayor said he was also removing Brewer as the agency’s interim operating chairman.
However, the agency’s bylaws state the board chairman is designated by the mayor and a “filing of the Certificate of Appointment with the Recorder of Deeds of Cook County.” To date, Johnson did not file a certificate of appointment on Malone’s behalf.
Brewer added the operating chairman’s position is decided by the board and not the mayor.
“They are wrong on the facts, and they are wrong on the law,” Brewer told the Sun-Times. “If this is just an attempt to bully and scare us to back down, I don’t think it is going to happen.”
For his part, Johnson claims Pettigrew’s appointment wasn’t legal because proper notice of the resolution to appoint him during a March 17 meeting was not made. He added that Brewer’s “stewardship of this process disenfranchised both fellow commissioners and the communities the CHA serves. CHA residents deserve leadership decisions that are transparent, lawful, and grounded in their lived experiences, not a process that prioritizes expediency over accountability.”
The CHA board members who voted to appoint Pettigrew issued a public statement rebuking the mayor, stating Pettigrew’s appointment “was not a unilateral action by Operating Chairman Brewer; rather, it reflected a duly recognized and transparent vote of the board. Board members were informed of Mr. Pettigrew’s selection, and the affirmative public votes of seven board members confirmed the appointment.”
The board members added they were unable to consider Burnett because the agency did not receive a conflict-of-interest waiver from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Burnett’s 30-year record as alderman and longtime ownership of properties rented to housing voucher holders were cited as conflicts of interest by the CHA board.
Photo: Mayor Brandon Johnson, courtesy of his Facebook page
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